Fisker sues Aston Martin over The Force 1 release

A rendering of The Force 1 that Henrik Fisker plans to show in Detroit next week and has prompted a warning from Aston Martin.

Designer Henrik Fisker filed a $100 million civil extortion lawsuit on Monday against Aston Martin, claiming his former employer wants to prevent him from unveiling a new supercar at next week’s Detroit auto show.

Fisker, the former star design director at Aston Martin who created the DB9 and V8 Vantage, among other cars, released a top-view sketch of The Force 1 last month.

“Aston Martin is trying to intimidate me to prop up their own flailing company and to mask their financial and product deficiencies,” Fisker said in a statement Monday accompanying the suit. “I refuse to be intimidated, and that is the reason for today’s filing.”

According to the suit, David Kelly, an attorney representing Aston Martin, sent Fisker a letter on Dec. 23 demanding that Fisker hold off on unveiling the car in Detroit or change the design altogether to “avoid conflict with Aston Martin’s rights,” which Aston Martin would “not hesitate to protect.”

Kelly says in the letter that The Force 1 design seen in the sketch is “strikingly similar” to the Aston Martin DB10, the car created for the latest James Bond film “Spectre.”

Kelly did note, however, that Aston Martin does “not know what the final version” of The Force 1 will look like.

"We believe that Mr. Fisker's lawsuit is without merit. As a matter of policy, we do not comment on pending litigation," Aston Martin spokesman Matthew Clarke said.

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Fisker: “Aston Martin is trying to intimidate me to prop up their own flailing company and to mask their financial and product deficiencies.”

The suit is the latest legal battle between Fisker and his former employer. Aston Martin sued Fisker in March over his plans to release the $400,000 Thunderbolt supercar based on the automaker’s Vanquish car. Fisker dropped the plans in April to settle the suit.

“Aston Martin and their three executives … conspired and devised a scheme to stomp out Henrik Fisker’s competitive presence in the luxury sports car industry,” Michaels said.

The lawsuit claims Aston Martin made its demands “under the threat of subjecting [Fisker] to vexatious litigation, public humiliation, embarrassment in the industry and significant financial losses.”

The suit, in addition to seeking $100 million in damages for civil extortion, also claims declaratory relief, which asks the U.S. District Court in the Central District of California to determine if Fisker’s design has features too similar to Aston Martin’s trademarks.

Michaels said Fisker plans to unveil the Force 1 in Detroit on Jan. 12.

Fisker worked for Aston Martin from 2001-04 and earlier for BMW, where he designed the Z8 roadster.

He co-founded the electric car company Fisker Automotive Inc. in 2007.

Fisker left the EV startup amid a dispute with management in 2013. Since then, Fisker has been designing luxury supercars. Fisker Automotive declared bankruptcy, was bought by a Chinese firm in 2014 and was renamed Karma Automotive in September.